John S. Swartley has been named associate vice provost for research and executive director of the Center for Technology Transfer at the University of Pennsylvania. 

The announcement was made by Provost Vincent Price and Dawn Bonnell, vice provost for research.

Swartley has been part of the CTT leadership team since 2007, serving as interim executive director, deputy executive director and senior director and head of new ventures. He has helped to oversee CTT’s technology commercialization efforts, new venture formation and translational innovation activities based on Penn discoveries and faculty expertise. He led the establishment and launch of CTT’s UPstart Company Formation Program, a groundbreaking new model for University venture creation.

“John Swartley has been a key partner in all of CTT’s considerable achievements over the past six years,” Price said. “Vice Provost Bonnell and I are confident that he is the ideal leader to advance that critical mission in the years ahead.”

Prior to joining Penn, Swartley was senior vice president and general partner of BCM Technologies, the venture capital subsidiary of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and associate director of the Office of Cooperative Research at Yale University. He earned an M.B.A. in 1997 and a Ph.D. 1993 in microbiology and molecular genetics from Emory University and a B.S. cum laude in 1988) in biology from Bates College. 

The Center for Technology Transfer supports economic growth by forging closer ties with industry and launching new ventures based on Penn technology, provides a comprehensive technology transfer system to Penn faculty, commercializes Penn research discoveries for societal benefit and generates income for future research, development and education. 

Swartley succeeds Michael J. Cleare, who retired from Penn on Jan. 31.